WIZARD BUILDS FROM WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR

As Pantheon nears, I wanted to take a few minutes to look into the capabilites of the Wizard, from what we know in previouse news letter. What makes them strong and how can your Wizard differ from the rest in Pantheon. I will be displaying builds that are geared for all players depending on playstyle and preference, hop you enjoy!

WIZARD BUILDS

Glass Canon – This build is designed around heavy burst damage, DoT applications being managed, high mana usage, with a splash of ice to assist in not pulling to much Aggro. It will take a lot of balance between doing to much damage and not pulling Aggro so be careful.

Primary Stat- Dex (Landing crits with spells that dish damage)

Secondary Stats- Int (Increase base damage of all spells)

Third Stats – Char (usually I don’t do a 3^rd stat, but having an increased mana pool from gear will be nice, but don’t allocate starting or landmark level stats to Char. This is a build for damage, not damage being sustained for long periods of time)

Top 8 Abilities (Leaving 4 for fillers by your depending on playstyle)

1. Summon Fire Familiar

Epic Ability. Summon your Fire Familiar. While active, it will allow you to retain your Fury of Flame focus while casting other schools of Magic.(This is great! When casting arcane or frost you won’t lose you crit chance bonus from fire. We will NEED a good arcane spell to fill and use to help build mana. If it is a prolonged fight feel free to use the Arcane Familiar for extra mana to be returned.)

2. Brand of Embers

You brand your enemy with fiery markings, lowering their resistance to the Fire school of Magic. (Lower the resistance to assist in higher damage of your fire spells as FIRE SPELLS are the primary focus.)

3. Engulf (Woven Spell. Requires Engulf Fragment)

Woven from Char to inflict increased Fire damage to your target and is guaranteed to critically hit. Additionally, Engulf inflicts high Fire damage-over-time for a brief duration.( This is a great filler spell to use depending on the duration of the DOT associated with the spell. The Guaranteed Crit is so sexy!)

4. Fiery Surge

You release a wave of fiery mana all around you, dealing Fire damage to all enemies within X meters.(Use this as a source of DOT, positioning will be key as not to pull the room, but it will help supply a constant stream of damage depending on the duration. With the increased Crit chance this will destroy mobs. Keep this active while casting your other fire spells for increased damage.)

5. Ember Arrow

You impale your enemy with a bolt of burning mana, dealing high Fire damage and causing them to Burn for X duration.(I see this as more of a filler as well, nice it deals high fire damage paired with your high Crit chance with stats, but also has a DoT associated.)

6. Inferno Lance

Charged Ability. You launch a spear of molten mana into your enemy, followed by a burning shockwave that damages all enemies in front of you up to X meters away. The longer you charge this ability before releasing, the more Mana it will cost and the more damage it will deal to all affected enemies. (This I would consider a main casting spell once you have your DoT’s going. Let it charge 100% of the way before firing. If you Crit from this spell your golden!)

7. Lightning Volley

You form a storm of Mana between your hands, causing between X and Y bolts of lightning to rapidly arc forward. If you have an enemy targeted, all of the lightning bolts will strike your target, dealing several rounds of Magic damage. If you do not have a target, the lightning will randomly strike enemies that are in within X meters in front of you.(Great little FPS(multiple hits from a single cast) that will help build mana back up! With the increased Crit chance with your primary stat being Dex, it should assist in building mana fast depending on recast time. I chose this over Prism burst because you have the option of hitting a single target only if a def target is selected. Prism burst sounds like it could break mez if mobs are close to each other. You’ll want to use this as a filler and frequently as possible to keep your mana built.)

8. Glint

You evoke shards of frozen mana at your enemy, dealing direct Cold damage and slowing their movement speed by X for Y seconds.(Use this to keep from building to much aggro. I’d suggest every 3 fire spells cast this to decrease the aggro obtained.)

Self Sustainable – This build is designed around being your own Mana Battery. Going long periods of casting without having to Med for, or if you do it being for a minimal amount of time. Keep in mind you’ll need to cast a fire spell to break the decreased damage/return amount from your arcane chains.

Primary Stat- Int (Base damage for spells will be key to keep your mana stacking along with the damage you produce. Some would think Dex but spikes of mana makes it hard to manage a “flow” at times.)

Secondary Stats- Char (Keep that Mana pool grown as much as you can!)

1. Summon Arcane Familiar

Summon your Arcane Familiar. When it arrives, it will absorb Mana from the environment equal to X% of your Maximum Mana. While your Familiar is active, it will feed X% of the Mana it holds to you every Y seconds. Additionally, you may dismiss your Arcane Familiar at any time, instantly gaining Z% of the Mana it holds.(Depending on how much is being returned you may need to despawn the familiar every so often to regan a chunk of mana.

2. Brand of the Arcane

You brand your enemy with resonating markings, lowering their resistance to the Arcane school of Magic.(Cast this first always so you get the max Mana return from your arcane damage.)

3. Lightning Volley

4. Prism Burst

You bombard your enemy with a prism of crystalized mana that explodes on impact, dealing direct Magic damage to your enemy and damaging all enemies within X meters of that target.(A great FPS spell that will return mana per landed hit. Communicate with your tank to pull the mob away from any Mez’ed mobs as not to accidently AoE smoothing you didn’t mean to hit.)

5. Fractal Jolt

A quick jolt of arcane energy that stuns your enemy briefly, interrupting their spell casting.(I’d use this last in your arcane chain as it doesn’t FPS and will return the least amount of mana, with the Arcane affinity you lose the damage over a period of time per Arcane cast you land. But it will be at a reduced mana cost so it could end up being almost a free cast!)

6. Engulf (Woven Spell. Requires Engulf Fragment)

Woven from Char to inflict increased Fire damage to your target and is guaranteed to critically hit. Additionally, Engulf inflicts high Fire damage-over-time for a brief duration.(I like this as fragments allow you to auto cast!. Quick way to break your Arcane Affinity and recycle your arcane chains again to keep your mana building.)

7. Fiery Surge

You release a wave of fiery mana all around you, dealing Fire damage to all enemies within X meters.(This is also a good ability to break your Arcane Affinity cycle, and allows you to do continual damage while casting your arcane spells. Depending on the length of Engulf’s DoT, you might be able to have both going for a period of time rotating them between lighting volley, prism burst, and fractal jolt.)

8. Glint

You evoke shards of frozen mana at your enemy, dealing direct Cold damage and slowing their movement speed by X for Y seconds.(I put this in here on the off chance you feel like your building up to much Aggro you can easily decrease.)Text block. Change the text.

Anti Caster – This build is based around interrupting the spell casting of an enemy. Using Stun spells, decreased casting times, spell interrupts, and knock downs. This will be useful for a high ceiling player who is looking to assist his group when facing healer/dps casting mobs. It’s not as exciting as doing large chunks of damage but is extremely useful and your tank will love you for it!

Primary Stat- Char (having a high mana pool will allow you to focusing a group of mobs without running out of mana. It’s not about all out damage for this build so length of your combat is what will win the day!)

Secondary Stats- Int (Base damage will help more than concentrating on buffs and will keep your Aggro spikes lower.)

1. Summon Arcane Familiar

Summon your Arcane Familiar. When it arrives, it will absorb Mana from the environment equal to X% of your Maximum Mana. While your Familiar is active, it will feed X% of the Mana it holds to you every Y seconds. Additionally, you may dismiss your Arcane Familiar at any time, instantly gaining Z% of the Mana it holds.(I chose this over Summon Fire Familiar for the boost to mana regen. As you will be rotating between multiple spell types, fire, arcane, frost.)

2. Evoke Fire

You release a sudden blast of fiery mana. The force of this ability will knock your target down if they are in a Weakened state.(Nice little knock down ability, this will most likely be used near the end of a fight. Knock downs can be so useful if a disposition is learned or they are preparing to flee.)

3. Fractal Jolt

A quick jolt of arcane energy that stuns your enemy briefly, interrupting their spell casting.(Use when you see an enemy preparing to cast a spell, any spell.)

4. Blast of Lightning

You send a bolt of electrified mana through your target, dealing Magic damage and decreasing their spell-casting speed for X duration.(Follow Fractal Jolt with Blast of Lighting! After you have interrupted the enemy slow there casting speed. This is great to use on healers and dps enemy casters if you don’t have a chanter to Mez them. Slowing down a heal could make or break a fight.

5. Frozen Fortress

You encase yourself in solid ice, forming a barrier between you and your enemies. Any enemies trying to harm you will begin attacking the Frozen Fortress in an attempt to break it open. While inside, you are unable to move and are immune to all damage and detrimental effects. The effect will end after X duration, or when attacking enemies deal enough damage to destroy it.(A very cool ability that makes you invincible for a time being. You can use this to buy your group time with multiple mobs. It will take you out of the fight for the time being, but if you purposefully grab aggro on mobs that are grouped separating one out of the fight can be just as useful as you being in it.

6. Shatter the Ice

You concentrate your energy into an abrupt explosion of power, shattering the Frozen Fortress and damaging all enemies within X meters of you. Affected enemies will be rooted in place for up to Y seconds. Only useable while Frozen Fortress is active.(Follow up to Frozen Fortress! Use this to root the enemies that were attacking you for a period of time, allowing you to get back in the fight while they are still out of it!.)

7. Magical Bonds

You form cords of dense energy around your enemies feet, slowing their Movement Speed by X% for Y duration.(Very cool spell to follow Shatter the ice with. It doesn’t do any damage but when seconds are difference between life and death, a mob running slowly back to the battle may be the time you need. Or you can rotate Frozen fortress, shatter the ice again to reroot the enemy.)

8. Engulf (Woven Spell. Requires Engulf Fragment)

Woven from Char to inflict increased Fire damage to your target and is guaranteed to critically hit. Additionally, Engulf inflicts high Fire damage-over-time for a brief duration.(Your main damage spell to spread around to enemies who have good aggro with the tank as it Crits and then DoT’s, allowing you to stay on top of the inturrupts!)

OUTRO

I hope you found one of these builds inspiring! Personally i like the Anti-Caster build. Being a tank myself anyone who can save my bacon, and keep me from getting nuked will make my friends list! Let me know in the comments below which is your favorite, or if you hate them all. Also feel free to list your builds below!